232 TKANSACTIONS OF THE HORriCULTURAL 



tion of a number of unopened buds revealed the fact that in eighty 

 per cent, of them the style had been more or less injured by biting 

 and puncturing. In the majority of the buds examined the style 

 seemed to be injured more than any other part of the blossom." He 

 relates that he "became convinced that they were doing much injury 

 by preventing fertilization, as their injuries to the tender styles 

 would cut off all communication between the stigma and the ovary." 

 The injury to the strawberry blossom is very similar to that of 

 the apple just described. I examined hundreds of blossoms at Nor- 

 mal, and found that those in which the Thrips were swarming 

 almost invariably had a large proportion of the pistils seriously 

 injured, the styles being usually the part attacked. The latter 

 appeared more or less gnawed and discolored shortly after the injury, 

 and soon became black and dead. Of course the effect of this pre- 

 vention of fertilization is to dwarf or blight the berry, as the 

 receptacle does not develop beneath non-fertilized seeds. Probably 

 much more damage was attributed to the strawberry midget than it 

 really did. The effect of its injury is much the same as might result 

 from half a dozen other causes, and wherever people noticed blighted 

 berries and discovered a few Thrips present (an easy task, as they 

 can be found almost anywhere), the conclusion was jumped to that 

 they were the authors of the mischief. I am inclined to believe 

 that much of the blighting was, due to an insufficient supply of 

 pollen quite as much as to the midget, and that had the weather 

 been favorable to a strong, healthy development of the blossoms the 

 injurv would not have been so great as it was. 



The present seasonal superabundance of this insect is probably 

 due to the extraordinary dry weather of this and preceding years. It 

 is well known that dry weather is favorable to the multiplication of 

 most terrestrial insects; and that many diseases and other agencies 

 destructive to insect life do not take significant effect except when the 

 weather is more or less moist. Inasmuch as these insects have 

 doubtless been present in the strawberry fields of Illinois for many 

 years, but have never before been known to do such serious damage, 

 and as this increase in numbers was concomitant with the extreme 

 dry weather, it does not seem probable that there will be a regular 

 repetition of the damage in the future. Hence this insect may pos- 

 siblv do to the strawberry -grower what (according to a recent remark 

 of Prof. Forbes) the chinch-bug may be said to do to the wheat- 

 grower — serve to emphasize seasonal extremes of weather. 



REMEDIES. 



With our present knowledge of the economy of the strawberry 

 midget, little can be said upon this part of our subject. It is not 

 probable that the burning of plantations after the fruit is gathered 

 will produce any appreciable effect upon their numbers, as they 

 largely leave the vines when the blossoming season is over. Nor 



